CME
E-mini Russell 2000 (RTY) Tick Value & Contract Specs
Tick value $5.00 per tick — $50 × the Russell 2000 index.
Small caps trade differently from mega caps, and the E-mini Russell 2000 (RTY) is how futures traders express that view. The contract is $50 per index point — the same multiplier as ES — but with a 0.10-point tick worth $5.00. Because the Russell 2000 trades at a much lower index level than the S&P 500 (around 2,000 versus 5,000), one RTY contract carries roughly $100,000 of notional, less than half of ES.
The index's two thousand small-cap constituents make RTY more sensitive to domestic US economic conditions, credit spreads and risk appetite than the mega-cap-driven S&P and Nasdaq — it frequently leads or lags them at turning points, which is precisely why relative-value and rotation traders watch it. Ten ticks make one point, so a 10-point stop is 100 ticks or $500 per contract. Check that arithmetic against your risk budget with the pre-filled calculator below before sizing a position.
- Exchange
- CME
- Contract size
- $50 × the Russell 2000 index
- Tick size
- 0.1
- Tick value
- $5.00
- Point value (multiplier)
- $50
- Trading hours
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 4:15pm–4:30pm ET
- Margin
- Margin varies by broker and typically moves with volatility — check your broker for current initial/maintenance margin.
How RTY tick value works
Tick value is the dollar amount one futures contract gains or loses when the price moves one minimum increment (one tick).
tick value = tick size × multiplier. For RTY, that is 0.1 × $50 = $5.00 per tick, per contract.
One contract represents $50 × the Russell 2000 index. P&L for a move from entry to exit is (exit − entry) ÷ tick size × tick value × contracts.
RTY contract months and ticker symbols
A futures ticker is three parts: the root, a one-letter delivery month, and the year. RTYZ2026 is the December 2026 RTY contract. The month letters skip I and L, which would read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
| Code | Month | Listed for RTY? |
|---|---|---|
| F | January | No |
| G | February | No |
| H | March | Yes — RTYH |
| J | April | No |
| K | May | No |
| M | June | Yes — RTYM |
| N | July | No |
| Q | August | No |
| U | September | Yes — RTYU |
| V | October | No |
| X | November | No |
| Z | December | Yes — RTYZ |
Which RTY contract am I looking at?
Most charts default to the continuous front-month series rather than a dated contract — one stitched-together chart that rolls to the next month as the current one nears expiry. Every platform spells it differently, which is why the same contract appears under so many names.
| Written as | Platform | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| RTY1! | TradingView | Continuous front-month contract. "2!" is the next one out, and a dated contract is written in full, e.g. RTYZ2026. |
| RTY00 | Barchart | Continuous front-month series. "RTYZ26" style codes name a specific month and year instead. |
| RTYc1 | Refinitiv / Reuters | Continuous front month; c2 is the second month out. |
| /RTY | thinkorswim, tastytrade | The leading slash marks it as a future rather than a stock. A specific month is /RTYZ26. |
| RTY=F | Yahoo Finance | The "=F" suffix denotes the front-month futures series. |
| $RTY | StockTwits, social | A cashtag, not an exchange symbol. It usually means the front month, but it is informal and ambiguous. |
A dated code such as RTYZ26 always means one specific contract; the continuous forms never do. Check which you are quoting before comparing a price to someone else’s — around a roll they differ.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the tick value for RTY?
- $5.00 per tick — a 0.1 tick size × a $50 multiplier (point value).
- What is one RTY contract worth?
- One contract represents $50 × the Russell 2000 index. Notional value = price × $50; use the tick value calculator with the current price for an exact figure.
- Which exchange lists RTY?
- E-mini Russell 2000 (RTY) trades on the CME.
- What are the trading hours for RTY?
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 4:15pm–4:30pm ET.
- How much margin do I need to trade RTY?
- Margin varies by broker and typically moves with volatility — check your broker for current initial/maintenance margin.
- What are the RTY contract months?
- RTY lists March, June, September and December.
- What does RTYZ2026 mean?
- It is one specific RTY contract: the root RTY, the delivery-month code Z, and the year. Z is December, so RTYZ2026 is the December 2026 contract. The codes run F G H J K M N Q U V X Z for January through December — I and L are skipped because they read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
- What is RTY00, RTY1! or /RTY?
- All three name the same thing: the continuous front-month RTY contract, written differently by different platforms. Barchart uses RTY00, TradingView RTY1!, thinkorswim and tastytrade /RTY, Yahoo Finance RTY=F, and RTY on social media is usually written $RTY. None of them is a separate instrument — each stitches together whichever dated contract is currently the front month.
- How is P&L calculated for RTY?
- P&L = (exit price − entry price) ÷ 0.1 tick size × $5.00 tick value × number of contracts. Use the tick value calculator to compute this directly.
More futures contract specs
- M2K — Micro E-mini Russell 2000Tick value $0.50 · CME
- NKD — Nikkei 225 (Dollar)Tick value $25.00 · CME
- ES — E-mini S&P 500Tick value $12.50 · CME
- MES — Micro E-mini S&P 500Tick value $1.25 · CME
See all futures contract specs or use the futures contract & tick value calculator with any symbol or custom specs.
Specs last reviewed 2026-09-06. Exchanges can amend contract specs — always confirm against the exchange or your broker before trading.